The present invention relates to means for supporting a screening device in a frame structure with frame members comprising top and bottom members as well as side members and lining an opening in a building, in particular a door or a window, said means comprising a first pair of bracket members for mounting on each of a pair of opposed parallel frame surfaces of said frame structure and a second pair of coupling members each provided with means engageable by engaging means on said screening device, each of said bracket members and each of said coupling members further comprising engaging means for engagement of a coupling member with a bracket member.
Screening devices for windows and doors such as roller blinds, venetian blinds, pleated blinds and internal and external shutters are conventionally supplied together with supporting brackets which are specifically adapted to the particular form of screening device and are engageable by engaging means provided on the screening device, typically at either end thereof. During installation of the screening device the supporting brackets must be mounted by the user himself which frequently results in errors, in particular if different left-hand and right-hand brackets are mixed up.
Although it is also known to incorporate supporting brackets for a specific type of screening devices in the frame structures of doors and windows during the production thereof, so that the door or window frame structure is supplied with premounted supporting brackets, such brackets have normally been designed for use with a specific kind of screening devices such as roller blinds. If installation of another kind of screening devices such as a venetian blind is desired it has been necessary in such case to replace the premounted supporting brackets by brackets specifically designed for the desired screening device.
In addition, unavoidable production tolerances for the door or window frame structure may result in difficulties with respect to correct mounting of a screening device, whereby safe mounting of a screening device to the frame structure may occasionally only be obtained by use of additional fastening screws.
In DE patent no. 30 48 333 supporting means for a roller blind is disclosed comprising two support plates, one of which is provided with a slot for receiving a square pin in one end of the spring roller tube of the roller blind in a rotationally locked manner and the other one is provided with a circular hole. For alternative mounting of a Venetian blind, each support plate is provided with protrusions for engaging grooves in coupling members connected with the top casing of the Venetian blind, said members being pushed over the support plates. Subsequently, the side guide lists of the blind are mounted, said lists serving simultaneously as support for the coupling members and the top casing of the blind, i.e. as a safety against disconnection of the coupling member from the support plate.
Although this support arrangement allows for use of the same supporting brackets for different screening devices, a disadvantage of this design has been that for use with a roller blind supporting brackets of different design for receiving the spring roller tube of the roller blind, i.e. the slot and the circular hole, respectively, are required.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,614,045 a supporting arrangement is disclosed comprising elongate slotted rails secured to the side members of the frame structure and extending throughout the height thereof and coupling members provided with hook-shaped engaging members to engage in slots of said rails and projecting at right angles in front of the frame structure. The less attractive appearance of this arrangement limits its application to draperies, which will hide the supporting arrangement, and does not quality to meet current demands for an aesthetical and functional design of windows and accessories like screening devices.
EP-A1-0,465,433 discloses an arrangement comprising a pair of identical tubus-shaped supporting brackets secured to opposed surfaces of frame side members, in each of which a transverse recess is formed receive a resilient clamping member of a form restoring the outer cylindrical form of the supporting brackets. This design is intended only for roller blinds having engaging means in the form of projecting cylindrical pins at either end.
WO 96/07007 discloses a roller shade mounted between a pair of supporting brackets projecting at right angles from the front side of the frame structure and formed with an undercut groove to receive a coupling member in the form of a slide engaged by the roller shade.
In SE-B-415,904 a roller blind support is disclosed comprising a pair of L-shaped bracket members in which edge flange portions on either side of a rectangular slit are engaged by resilient legs of an insert slide which can be pushed into the recess and is engageable by engaging means on the roller blind.
On this background it is the object of the invention to provide supporting means for mounting a screening device in a rectangular frame structure lining a building opening, preferably on the frame or sash structure of a window, which has an attractive design meeting modern days user demands in respect of design quality and is easy and cheap to manufacture and the installation of which is simplified by a self-aligning design that may to a large extent compensate for production tolerances.
An additional object is to provide a standard design of the first pair of supporting brackets which can be premounted on the frame structure at the production site whereby simple installation of a variety of screening devices using various form of coupling members is made possible.
According to the invention these objects are met by supporting means as identified above, characterized in that the bracket members of said first pair are identical standard members for mounting on said opposed frame surfaces, each comprising a relatively flat front part protruding from said frame surface in the mounted position of said bracket member and having a substantially smooth external surface, and that said engaging means is provided by each coupling member and comprises first engaging means in the form of at least one contact surface on the coupling member engaging a circumferential surface part of a bracket member to provide temporary engagement therewith and non-resilient second engaging means providing stable engagement of the coupling member with respect to the frame structure.
By forming the bracket members as identical standard members the production thereof will become simple and cheap. The bracket members may tropically be mounted on opposed surfaces of the sash or frame side members facing the light area of a window and immediately below the top member of the sash or frame. Alternatively, the bracket members may also be mounted, however, on opposed surfaces of the sash or frame top and bottom members for accommodation of a screening device which is movable in the horizontal direction. Moreover the bracket members may be mounted with the circumferential surface part providing for temporary engagement with the contact surface of the coupling member extending either in the longitudinal direction of the frame or sash members on which they are mounted or transversely thereto. By the latter orientation the subsequent mounting of the coupling members on the bracket members becomes particularly simple, since the coupling members may be pushed onto the bracket members from the internal side of the window in a direction at right angles to the plane of the window pane.
Moreover, the provision of the engagement means in the form of first and second engagement means for temporary and stable engagement of the coupling member with respect to the bracket member and the frame or sash structure, respectively, facilitates the installation of a screening device. As will be further apparent from the following description the first engaging means can be designed for very easy temporary arrangement of the screening device with coupling members followed by provision or a stable and reliable fastening of the coupling members with respect to frame or sash structure, while the coupling members are held in temporary engagement with respect to the bracket members.
In general, the bracket members serve a two-fold purpose, namely on one hand to provide for accurate positioning of the coupling members and thereby the screening arrangement with respect to the frame structure and, on the other hand, to accommodate the load of the screening arrangement after establishment of the stable engagement of the coupling member with respect to the frame structure and transfer this load to the frame structure.
Preferred, but non-limiting embodiments of the supporting means according to the invention are stated in the dependent claims.